Take a Vacation

[bluegoose]

I'm 18 days from being in France and that vacation can't come soon enough.

That's great news, because if you're 18 days away, that means we're only 28 days away.

[falafel]

We fly to London in a week & a half. Going to enjoy the Platinum Jubilee.

My wife told me she really wants to take the family to London, but that she won't go unless she can get one of those suites with the beds.

[Bo Diddley]

My wife told me she really wants to take the family to London, but that she won't go unless she can get one of those suites with the beds.

I don't know about a suite, but we've done the lie flat seats on Delta. Back when Norwegian Air was doing their thing, premium economy was a pretty good deal. This time around, since we're taking our youngest and traveling with other family, I talked her down to Comfort+. It being a direct flight to LHR will take a lot of pain out of the trip as well.

[BigPiney]

That's an incredible deal. I'm looking at a trip down to the Southern Caribbean either later summer or early fall. Tickets range between $4oo and $1200 round trip depending on the week.

I love Google Flights and their explore option. I just selected one week in July and lo and behold. Helps that I fly from a major airport, even though the stupid thing is a 4 hr drive away.

https://www.google.com/travel/explor...&tcfs=UgRgAXgB

[Green Monstah]

Just on a whim because you got a deal or had this been planned for some time and you were just waiting for the right time?

I'm 18 days from being in France and that vacation can't come soon enough.

We just got back on Tuesday. It was great. Pretty much totally mask free except on the subway and plane (AirFrance). The weather was picture perfect.

[Moliere]

We just got back on Tuesday. It was great. Pretty much totally mask free except on the subway and plane (AirFrance). The weather was picture perfect.

we booked this trip back in November so my rental car was cheap and the plane tickets were also cheap. Unfortunately we are flying to San Francisco then to CdG. There weren’t a lot of options back then and we planned to take my mother in law with us and just meet her in San Francisco, so of course she backed out a couple months ago. And since the tickets were so cheap we can’t change them without paying a ton so we are stuck. Oh well, we at least fly to Frankfurt and then Houston on the return flights.

Early may is by far my favorite time in northern France because of the weather and the reduced crowds. I’m nervous going in early June since it seems everyone is going to Europe at the same time. At least the tourist attractions are doing more online reservatikns To keep crowds to a minimum and I’m a planner so we’ve got it all booked.

[Moliere]

We were looking for a vacation for this summer, but I have been so busy, hadn't really planned anything other than to go visit my son at BYU.

I found rt tickets for $200 a piece to Panama for that one week. So all 6 of us are going.

Seemed like a fun thing to do. Bought them a week ago.

Very cool. Be sure to return and report.

[Green Monstah]

we booked this trip back in November so my rental car was cheap and the plane tickets were also cheap. Unfortunately we are flying to San Francisco then to CdG. There weren’t a lot of options back then and we planned to take my mother in law with us and just meet her in San Francisco, so of course she backed out a couple months ago. And since the tickets were so cheap we can’t change them without paying a ton so we are stuck. Oh well, we at least fly to Frankfurt and then Houston on the return flights.

Early may is by far my favorite time in northern France because of the weather and the reduced crowds. I’m nervous going in early June since it seems everyone is going to Europe at the same time. At least the tourist attractions are doing more online reservatikns To keep crowds to a minimum and I’m a planner so we’ve got it all booked.

That’s a lot of air travel. Masks notwithstanding, the non stop HOU-CDG and vice versa was sweet.

[Moliere]

That’s a lot of air travel. Masks notwithstanding, the non stop HOU-CDG and vice versa was sweet.

Air France flight that leaves at 3:45pm? I’ve flown that flight every time we’ve gone. I wish we were in that Jen this time. At least I’ll be able to get in a lot of episodes of Band of Brothers on my way over there.

[Green Monstah]

Air France flight that leaves at 3:45pm? I’ve flown that flight every time we’ve gone. I wish we were in that Jen this time. At least I’ll be able to get in a lot of episodes of Band of Brothers on my way over there.

That’s the one.

[BigFatMeanie]

The Mrs and I are planning a trip to Australia and New Zealand in March. First time for us to either country.

For Australia we're planning to stay on the Victoria/NSW side of the country, flying between major cities. For New Zealand we haven't figured out what we're going to do yet but we're planning on 1 to 1.5 weeks in each country. We generally like arts/history/cultural stuff, and staying in nice hotels while taking day trips to hiking/scenic spots. We're not really the "trek around on a cross-country adventure living in hostels" type of travelers.

Anyone have any particular recommendations of places to visit, or past experiences vacationing there, they would be willing to share?

[Donuthole]

Legit question: what’s a good deal on a flight to Paris? We’re looking at going next year, and I have honestly no idea what’s a good deal for fights to Europe.

[Moliere]

Legit question: what’s a good deal on a flight to Paris? We’re looking at going next year, and I have honestly no idea what’s a good deal for fights to Europe.

I can't speak for Vegas, but the cheapest I've bought were $534/ticket (that's all in with taxes and everything) but that was for our trip in March 2019 (during spring break). If you go late May to August you'll pay at least $1,000 if not more, unless you find a lucky deal.

There are a lot of cheap flight deal trackers but the best one I've found is Scott's Cheap Flights. I think they have a free service you can sign up for but I paid the $30 or so to customize the deals. Every day I get a couple emails of deals and then I just go to google flights if I want to buy them. Offseason, I've seen flights for as cheap as $400 but they are usually in months like November or February.

HMU when you book your flights and I'll send over my latest "Paris Guide" document. Plan at least two days to go to Normandy/Mont Saint Michel. It's worth it.

[Northwestcoug]

The Mrs and I are planning a trip to Australia and New Zealand in March. First time for us to either country.

For Australia we're planning to stay on the Victoria/NSW side of the country, flying between major cities. For New Zealand we haven't figured out what we're going to do yet but we're planning on 1 to 1.5 weeks in each country. We generally like arts/history/cultural stuff, and staying in nice hotels while taking day trips to hiking/scenic spots. We're not really the "trek around on a cross-country adventure living in hostels" type of travelers.

Anyone have any particular recommendations of places to visit, or past experiences vacationing there, they would be willing to share?

Following! We want to do New Zealand either next year or 2024.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The Mrs and I are planning a trip to Australia and New Zealand in March. First time for us to either country.

For Australia we're planning to stay on the Victoria/NSW side of the country, flying between major cities. For New Zealand we haven't figured out what we're going to do yet but we're planning on 1 to 1.5 weeks in each country. We generally like arts/history/cultural stuff, and staying in nice hotels while taking day trips to hiking/scenic spots. We're not really the "trek around on a cross-country adventure living in hostels" type of travelers.

Anyone have any particular recommendations of places to visit, or past experiences vacationing there, they would be willing to share?

AUSTRALIA:

I would recommend a few days in Sydney. Go to the Circular Quay, the Opera House, and especially the botanical gardens which are adjacent to the opera house. Lots of good food. Best Thai food I have ever had. They also have some great beaches around the city and an amazing zoo.

I would DEFINITELY recommend a trip to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Fly into Cairns. Many people stay in Cairns but you are better off renting a car and staying Port Douglas. They have many charters for day trips out to the reef (about 1:45 hr boat ride each way). You can also spend time at the Daintree National Park - lots of fun trails into the rain forest. You can visit a croc farm and a butterfly preserve. But don't you dare miss a chance to see the reef. You can dive if you want, but snorkeling is plenty. The water is only 5-8 ft deep in most places so you are right there with the coral, fish, etc. We did 2 trips out to the reef and 2-3 days on land and had a blast. One of our all-time favorite trips.